just another day in paris

So I went to bed kind of late last night, as is typical of weekends with us young folks who like to revel in each other's company whilst enjoying the finer things in life. Which in our case, I guess, involves drinking two euro bottles of wine and watching witty BBC documentaries on survivalist militias that exist in northwestern America. So you can imagine my annoyance when I was awakened this morning to intermittent chanting and 'woooo'ing outside my window on the street below. There had been much talk in the media about upcoming protests regarding the Olympic torch and China that I figured some keeners had gotten a head start and were yelling outside my window. What I actually found, when I raked the sleep from my encrusted eyelids and my mildly dehydrated brain allowed me to focus, was thousands upon thousands of people flooding the street. Were there riots again? Was Godzilla approaching from just beyond the foggy haze of la Defense? Had Heather Mills expressed an interest in moving to Paris? And then I remembered: Today was the Paris Marathon. I had no idea the route was by my apartment. So instead of hating those keeners that had been cheering 'ouaaaaaais!' at the ungodly hour of 9:30 am on a Sunday, I was glad for their enthusiasm. It really was a site to behold. Just thousands of runners trotting along the street in droves. I believe around 35 000 people had entered. I didn't see all of them because the cheering at first had been mixing with some early morning dreams, confusing the hell out of me, but it took around a half an hour for them all to peter out. It was pretty sweet.

Tomorrow the Olympic torch is supposed to come through Paris. As you may have heard, France is not pleased with China's policies towards Tibet and are talking about boycotting the Olympic opening ceremonies. A ton of protests have been organized for tomorrow for when the flame makes its way around Paris. I unfortunately can't go see it or watch the protests because it's starting just as I have to go to work, which really sucks. Kevin is going to go on everyone's behalf and tell us about it. Providing he doesn't get shot. Which most likely won't happen. There is going to be a TON of police presence though, so I’m not sure how much he will actually be able to see. It's coming pretty close to my house too. Rats.

Anyway, this entry wasn't really about anything. Sometimes little things happen outside my window that I wouldn't normally see and it makes me happy that I live here. And I just felt like sharing.

xo